Denver is projected to have more than 100,000 school-age kids within city boundaries by 2016 – up by more than 10,000 students from today, officials said Wednesday.

Most new families are expected to move into north and east areas of the city, near Denver International Airport and the Lowry neighborhood. Only about 61,000 kids are attending Denver Public Schools’ traditional schools this year.

The data were presented Wednesday to a DPS citizens panel studying school closures.

The group, composed of business and student advocacy leaders, will recommend criteria for closing schools – and possibly name specific schools – to the school board, which could vote on closing schools this year.

The criteria could include student academic growth at schools, projected enrollment declines and building conditions, among other factors.

Many of the city’s middle and high schools have large numbers of kids who “choice out” to other schools outside the schools’ boundaries, according to data released to the commission.

For example, 75 percent of students within Smiley Middle School’s boundaries choice out. And half of the students within South and George Washington high schools’ boundaries walk away from those schools, according to the numbers.

State “school choice” law allows parents to cross neighborhood and district boundary lines to attend school, if there’s room.

Schiff was brought in to help some city schools burnish their reputations. She has helped with school marketing in Colorado Springs and will help Denver schools and principals get their positive “stories” out, she said.

“It’s not about putting lipstick on a pig,” said Schiff, whose salary is being paid by Mile High United Way. “We want the marketing efforts to be meaningful and the community to have confidence in our product.”

Schiff said she will work with the schools that are rated high in state rankings but have room in their buildings. She will also work Denver Realtors to talk about quality programs in DPS.

Superintendent Michael Bennet has said that if his administration can’t improve the city’s 130 traditional schools, people will continue to walk away.

The district has lost about 8,000 students in six years in its traditional schools.

Among other initiatives, Bennet has required middle school- age students and some ninth- graders below grade level in core subjects to double the number of classes they take in math and reading to help boost scores on Colorado Student Assessment Program tests.

The district’s marketing efforts will compete directly with what Denver charter schools are doing to get students. Charters are public schools but run independently from the districts that authorize them.

At West Denver Prep charter school on Federal Boulevard, principal Chris Gibbons goes door to door to get students to come to the new middle school.

“We say this is safe, small and college prep,” said Gibbons, who just admitted 110 new students out of 181 applicants. “We try to get to every family.”